Sunday, October 28, 2012

1. Violate La Monte Young's copyright or fail to identify him as sole composer. 2. Produce and sell album. 3. Keep both of your royalty dollars for yourself. 4. Await litigation. 5. The piece is not over until you have settled with the Mela Foundation for an undisclosed sum.

Compositions 2012 II.

1. Copyright 4 minutes and 34 seconds of silence. 2. Troll iTunes store for 4'33" performances with an extra second of lead time. 3. Sue John Cage Trust. 4. Piece is not over until you have used proceeds from John Cage trust to settle with Mela Foundation--this is, after all, a cycle of text pieces.

Compositions 2012 III.

1. Write, produce, and release an ubiquitous, Maroon-5-style hit that moves to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and the iTunes single chart. 2. The first section is not over until you have gone triple platinum orgrossed 8-figures-less-publicity-and-preproduction. 3. Revolutionize pop music (do not proceed until Taylor Swift is incorporating performance art in imitation of you.) 4. Send twitter direct-message to Girl Talk telling him how much you respect him as an artist. 5. Wait for Girl Talk to sample your ubiquitous hit. 6. Sue Girl Talk. 7. Donate proceeds to John Cage Trust.

Compositions 2012 IV.

1. Release a hotly anticipated follow-up and win best new artist after a ten-year music career. 2. Fund a kickstarter campaign. 3. Crowd-source your back-up band. 4. Wait for the blogosphere outcry. 5. Retreat into yourself as a mad genius and make your audience come to you. 6. Go back to Movement I. 7. Repeat as necessary. 8. Failure to follow any of these directions absolutely may force you to accidentally become David Byrne.

UPDATE: Compositions 2012 V.

1. Well done. 2. You have performed this piece to perfection, twice. 3. Pay me my royalty on your four albums, your kickstarter campaign, less settlement expenses. 4. I will pay legal fees. ESCAPE CLAUSE: 5) If you accidentally became David Byrne, you can keep it all.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Stockhausen ends a banal, 1984 pro forma music questionnaire with the most dire explanation of music's importance I've ever heard.

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COUNCIL: Are there any other questions that deserve attention in connection with the status of music? STOCKHAUSEN: Has it been stressed enough, that the kind of music and the amount of music one has heard during one's lifetime, is decisive for the soul's states and decisions after death?